We aren’t built into a spiritual house to be nothing and do nothing. This spiritual house, Scripture says, is to be a holy priesthood. “As you come to him, the living Stone– rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him– you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house […]
To Jesus who is the living Stone, God’s Chosen and Precious Cornerstone, His view is that the Church and its faithful are not just a jar of identical marbles. Each man, woman, and child is individual–and is as individual as each person’s decision to follow Christ. This fact is proven by unique gifting from the […]
Now that I’ve risked making YOU feel like YOU are unimportant, let me correct back to who YOU are that God would send Jesus as payment for your sins. He loves you and in Christ, you are family. This love is powerful and salvific. What kind of love is that? Scripture says in 1 John […]
Here’s a good litmus test for our understanding of how “God loves YOU, God cares for YOU, Jesus died for YOU” and how YOU view this love…made personal to YOU by well-meaning evangelical pastors looking for a new convert. Another favorite idea with Bible-believing Christians in the evangelical world is predestination, meaning that God chose […]
What is mankind that God is mindful of us? And beyond that, exactly how personal does God get with knowing us individually? Evangelicals are fond of the personal relationship aspect of Christianity. Especially at Easter, pastors will often emphasize that “God loves YOU!” Which God does, it’s just His love is on a totally different […]
Throughout Lent, I emphasized the point that we are Image-bearers. Each person belonging to the human race is endowed with this Image-bearing. Now because of sin, it’s in broken form–a relic of what once was…in original created perfection. It was my hope to offer a helpful corrective to the human-centric “Jesus thinks you’re so special […]
Take a moment today to consider where you are. In the flow of time and in the story of the Bible and God’s redemptive work in the world, we’re nearing the end of the story. Time remaining is short. Who is man that God is mindful of us? We will explore this question over the […]
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! It’s traditional celebratory verbiage for Christians at Easter. The tomb was empty and that’s worth celebrating, but why was the tomb empty? Because He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed! While a circular answer, that’s not what I’m asking. Why was it necessary that the tomb be empty…that […]
At His death, where did Jesus’ Very Image of God go? He wasn’t extinguished…with no spirit, no soul bearing the Image of God, a dead body only. If He wasn’t extinguished, what happened at His death? It’s “deep time” on the Image of God. . In the past, when the ancients in faith died, they […]
In the words of Eugene Peterson, perseverance is a long obedience in the same direction. Jesus knew it by living it. He persevered until the very end. After fulfilling the very last of Scripture needing fulfillment by drinking vinegar from a sponge (one last act of kindness from some anonymous person to our dying Savior) […]
